Wait For Me
by PortgasDSeshru
Summary: If only the battlefield hadn't been frozen and maybe, just maybe, Ace wouldn't have slipped and fell face-first. Oneshot! Character death!


_**Summary: If only the battlefield hadn't been frozen and maybe, just maybe, Ace wouldn't have slipped and fell face-first. Enjoy!**_

* * *

><p>It had been one thing for Luffy to fall from the sky and completely blow Whitebeard's entrance out of the water, but for him to stand up to the strongest man in the world was another. Every pirate and navy officer had watched in complete awe and fear as the rubber man flared his nose and stared defiantly at the tallest man on the battlefield. His pirate crew was so large that they had to be split into several divisions, making him the Captain of the biggest pirate crew currently known. Yet Luffy's confidence knew no bounds and had proudly declared to the world that <em>he <em> would be the one to become Pirate King. The amount of people who had face-palmed had been immense.

It had been hard for Ace, to just sit there and watch his friends – no – _family _fight for his life and several of them die in the process. His heart ached as he could do nothing but watch them. **"Don't you worry, Ace! We'll get you out of there in no time!" **His families comforting and noble words had warmed his heart, showing him just how _loved _he really was. It made him so happy, _so happy_ and he couldn't even fight with them. Tears had begun to trail down his freckled cheeks, as he bent over to rest his head onto the execution platform.

"**GIVE ACE BACK!"**

Luffy. Only Luffy could be so damn outrageous and unpredictable at the same time. Think about it! Who else would break into Impel Down, the world's most dangerous and tightly secured prison, just to save their own brother? Luffy would, that's who. When Hancock had told Ace that she had helped Luffy get into the prison, Ace had been horrified, scared and most of all _**angry**_. Didn't he know what he was getting into? Didn't he understand that, he wasn't strong enough?! Ace knew, deep down that it was his time. His time to die, and nobody could change his fate. When he was brought into this world, he was never meant to live or be happy. He was meant to suffer and be hated forever, the price of being the late Pirate King's son. But now, as he watched his nakama and his brother fight for him, he craved all the things that other people had. He wanted to live again! He had accepted the fact that he would die, but now watching everyone, his heart felt like someone was strangling it with barbed wire, and now he wanted to live again!

And he hated it. Absolutely hated it. Didn't they understand that it was dangerous for them to love him? To fight for him? And to call him family? Even for pirated like themselves, Ace knew that even they weren't safe around a person like him. Yet they fought on, pushing themselves to the limit, his tear-streaked face being their inspiration. They wanted to make those tears happy ones, and not ones of grief.

Ace turned his attention back to Luffy, as he ran past several navy captains and made his way closer and closer to the execution platform. He was intercepted by Smoker, who was pushed aside like a fly by none other than Hancock herself. What was that? A key? For what? Then it struck him! His handcuffs, but how did she get a hold of the key? And why was she giving it to Luffy? Whatever the reason was, he was grateful. He really did want to leave this place, to go home and again and live on.

Luffy kept running, he never stopped, never gave up. Not even when he had to face all three Admirals. Not even when Garp himself had stood between Luffy and Ace. He had proudly punched his grandfather in the face, putting Ace before even his blood family, yet Ace was his brother in all but blood. It made Ace's heart beat faster and faster, as Luffy climbed up the path to the platform, that Inazuma has cut himself.

"I finally made it!" Luffy grinned. Ace looked shocked, tears still running down his face, yet he smiled, a huge and real smile and had laughed as hard as Luffy. All was going well, until Kizaru had shot a lightbeam in Luffy's direction, going right through the key to the handcuffs and breaking it in half in the process. Not only that, Sengoku had chosen to get in the way as well, and fully transform into a huge golden Buddha which caused the platform to collapse due to the weight. Then some idiotic marine officers with bazooka's decided to shoot at the platform, resulting in an explosion.

In a moment of luck, Mr 3 had been present, and had disguised himself as one of the executioners. He then made an exact wax replica of the broken key from his memory, which Luffy had used to unlock Ace's handcuffs. Thus, beginning the _real _fight.

Forgetting his manly pride and whatnot, Ace had jumped up and down a few times, and had squeezed the life out of his younger brother, proudly displaying his happiness. Several pirates alike had laughed wholeheartedly, as their drive to move forward had multiplied tenfold.

"I hate to break it to you, Ace. But if you don't start moving now, the navy will catch you and end the life that you've just got back." Marco stated. He too, was too happy to stop smiling like an idiot, but he chose to keep a straight and clear head. Ace nodded, before attacking any navy officers in his way and making his way back to the Moby Dick, Luffy following not so far behind. They ran, and laughed at the same time. Well, Luffy laughing his heart out and Ace trying not to, while scolding Luffy for laughing, yet laughing anyway.

In every party, there's always that one person who has to say or do something that'll dampen the mood of at least one person. Said person, was Akainu. Knowing that something had to be done, he decided to stand up and retrieve Ace himself since these senseless weaklings weren't even close to recapturing the 'Fire Fist'. He knew that Ace concentrating more on getting away, rather than fighting. So he had used _other _means at luring the freckled man back into the clutches of the navy.

"So you're running away? Well obviously _you _would, your father was a coward too." Ace abruptly stopped, turning to glare at the magma-man. Akainu knew for sure that when provoked, Ace would attack anyone. He wasn't good at managing his anger, and it was well known, his father had trouble handling his own anger at times – especially when his nakama or someone important to him was insulted or attacked.

"What did you just say?" Venom laced his words, as his glare intensified at the navy Admiral.

"You heard me. It doesn't matter if you get away from here anyway. Whitebeard will die here, like the scoundrel that he is, and you won't be able to do anything about it. So you can choose to run like a coward, or you can fight with him and die like the bastard child that you are."

That did it. Ace charged, as his anger increased rapidly. His arm was covered in blood-red flames, and even nearby people could feel the heat being radiated. Ace swung his arm, intending to sock Akainu in the face, only for his arm to be caught and burnt by magma as he was thrown to the ground. His groaned loudly, as he dropped like a fly onto the ice-covered area. There were burn marks decorating his arm, stinging like someone had dropped acid directly onto his skin.

"Are you _that_ stupid? Don't you know that magma is hotter than fire. I didn't know that you were stupid, like your father I guess." Ace gritted his teeth, glaring much more powerfully than before. Akainu decided to turn his attention to the younger brother. Luffy had fallen to his knees, as the effects of Ivankov's hormones had run out. His body sat weakly, as his attention was pulled towards the fallen vivre card on the floor. He tried as hard as he could to reach out and grab it, yet his arm could barely be lifted up. His vision started to go blurry, and his head was throbbing. He didn't even notice the magma fist that was coming towards him.

Ace saw this, and got up quickly before running to save his younger sibling. He was his only real family in this world, and it was his job to protect his younger brother. He had already lost one, and he had promised himself that he wouldn't lose another. If only the battlefield hadn't been frozen and maybe, just maybe, Ace wouldn't have slipped and fell face-first. His face hit the jagged ice and his nose was hurting like mad! He raised his head to pull himself back up, only to watch the burning magma fist penetrate his brother's chest, instantly destroying his heart and a part of his lungs.

Ace's world froze. He didn't even feel Marco's hands reaching underneath his arms to lift him up onto his back. He didn't even notice Shank's arrival. He couldn't even hear the shouts of Whitebeard, as he ordered everyone to board the Moby Dick. All he could do was watch Luffy die. There was blood, so much blood. Luffy lay there, unmoving, unbreathing and cold. Alone. It was starting all over again. He felt useless once again, and all he could do was watch his baby brother lie there, dead.

He failed.

He failed himself.

He had failed Luffy.

He failed Sabo too.

He failed.

Luffy.

He was gone.

* * *

><p>(AN: So I wrote this while watching _**The Big Bang Theory**_. Weird, huh? Watching a comedy and writing angst. I am **TOTALLY NOT** on drugs… I swear…)


End file.
